T. C. Harbaugh

“ Under the Snake Queen’s gripe, and the pain occasioned by the nails, Jules Bardue lost his senses, and when he hung from the wall by both hands, Coleola stepped back and awaited the return of consciousness.
“The creole’s doom is terrible, but just!” murmured young Somerville, who had witnessed the red-men’s work in horrified silence, not knowing how soon he would be subjected to the same fearful torture. “I am doomed to some fearful death, but I can die more like a man than that dog gives promise of doing. For myself I care not, but for Kate yonder, I care much—all. ”

“ The bloody deed was committed in the forest of the Illinois, not far from Cahokia, on the Mississippi, and when the base-hearted Kaskaskia fled to his clansmen, with reeking hatchet, they sided with him, and, without a word in palliation of the crime, drove Pontiac’s followers from the hamlet.
The great Ottawa’s sachems spread over all the country, crying “blood for blood.” They fired many a savage heart with the torch of vengeance, and inaugurated a war whose horrors stand without a parallel on the pages of American history. ”

“ The creole laughed devilishly with his steel-gray eyes, and the scout gritted his teeth with rage and disappointment.
“Then here ends your accursed villainies!” he cried. “If Kate is dead, I’ll avenge her; if living I’ll find her without you to baffle me.”
The lips closed with determined emphasis over the last word, and a second later the shining steel descended.
It entered the broad breast of the Yellow Bloodhound, and with a shriek, scarce half-human, he sprung upward, hurling our hero from him as if he were a child. ”

“ Upon the rocky floor of a large cavern, and opposite the mouth of the corridor, lay Jules Bardue, his head propped up by a bundle of furs. His cadaverous face was deathly pale, and his blood-shot eyes wandered about in their sockets like lost stars. His clothes were covered with blood, and it was Big Moccasin’s unsurgical examination of the rent in his breast which had drawn forth the groans our friends had heard. Shrinking against the wall of the cavern, in the full light of the blaze, the spectators beheld Kate Blount, as beautiful as ever ”

“ Still clutching the Indian’s throat, the creole turned to the maddened crowd:
“The red dog has slept!” he said, “but we must not blame him. We have walked many miles through the forest, striking here and there the enemies of our race, and Ipigena must sleep, for he is weary. But, braves, the White Adder that stung Segowatha must not escape. Search the wood, for she is not far away. My eyes opened when the moon hung on yonder limb, and she was beside her father. Go, Avengers—Pontiac’s mad dogs—to the trail!” ”

“ For three weeks I’ve been the most wretched man on earth. Awake or asleep, I’ve been hunted by the ghost of that mighty chief whose life I purchased for a barrel of rum. I want to die, and now come on, and let me take to Hades with me a dozen red demons.”
“We don’t want your life, John Williamson, though I could take it without a guilty conscience,” said Oliver Blount, who recognized the man who had precipitated the bloody war upon the country, by compassing the death of the great conspirator, Pontiac. ”

“ Then he gently assisted her down a ladder formed of poles and sinews, and at last Kate found herself upon firm, stony ground, thirty feet below the roots of the tree.
In the gloom the Peoria paused, and a loud bird-call pealed from his lips.
It received no answer. He called again, and in the suspense that followed the cry, Kate felt a shudder flit over the red-skin’s tawny frame.
“Ulalah must sleep,” said Swamp Oak, in a tone full of uncertainty and fears. “Swamp Oak has not kissed her for ten sleeps, and she has grown weary waiting for him. We will awake her, Lone Dove. Come!” ”

“ A shudder swept to the hearts of the captives at this terrible announcement. The face of Oliver Blount grew white as snow when he looked upon his daughter, and thought of the fate that the furious Snake Queen had marked out for her.
The leaders of the war-party did not attempt to interfere with the Delaware demoness; they feared her as they feared the evil spirits; and there were many who believed that she was the natural daughter of Watchemenetoc, for no one, not even the white-haired chiefs, could tell how and when she first appeared to the Delaware tribe. ”

“ He knew that Oliver Blount intended to emigrate to the Illinois country sometime, and the Yellow Chief’s frequent incursions into that Paradise told that he watched and waited for father and daughter—for his revenge.
Fully thirty paces from trader Blount’s cottage the Indians watched the progress of their devilish work, and when they beheld the flames licking up the door with their forked tongues, they exchanged “ughs” of supreme satisfaction. The besieged would not permit themselves to be roasted to death, and every minute the dusky demons expected to hear the submissive cry. ”

“ The Ottawa caught the runner’s arm and shot him a look of blank astonishment, while the other chiefs and warriors contracted the circle with exclamations of disbelief and wonder.
“Yes, the pale-faced girl or the Peoria dog, Swamp Oak, slew Segowatha. The Yellow Bloodhound fell beneath the dog’s knife, but he leads his band upon the trail again. They have sworn by the Manitou to tear the pale-faces’ hearts from them; and let the arm raised to tear the white snakes away drop before they come. Like a whirlwind, they can not be stopped.” ”

“ The electric light had told her that the Yellow Chief was uppermost, and Swamp Oak’s situation critical in the extreme.
A few bounds brought her to the spot; her rifle flew above her head to deal a death-blow to the coward who sought to destroy her happiness, when she saw him roll from the Indian and lie perfectly still on the bank.
“Ugh!” grunted the victorious Peoria, springing to his feet, and shaking himself after the manner of a dog emerging from the water. “The Yellow Chief is as strong as the buffalo; but he was no match for Swamp Oak. ”

“ With the exclamation, the giant’s rifle touched his shoulder, and a yell told that some ill-fated red-man had exposed his body to the death-scout’s aim. An instant later the weapons of the other whites spoke their death-tidings, and the chorus of yells that quickly followed would have done credit to the choir of the lost in Pandemonium.
The Indians to a man shot forward; and with clubbed rifles and knives griped between their teeth, Doc Bell and his companion sprung from the trees, and faced the red horde with the look of men whose lives must be purchased at a terrible cost. ”

“ As she finished, Nehonesto rose to his feet, and faced the chief—the leader of the war-band.
“Chiefs, decide between Nehonesto and Coleola,” he said. “He claims the pale flower, and the giant hunter. Shall they die by the knife of a mad-woman—they and their brethren,” and he glanced at the trader and Somerville—“or shall they become the captives of Nehonesto, the War Eagle of the Ojibwas?” ”

“ The young scout was about to strike a fierce young Ojibwa who had spat in his face, but the giant’s words unclinched his hand, and he told the red-man that they would meet again.
The Indians made no noisy demonstration over the surrender of the whites, but their lowering looks boded ill for their captives; and Doc Bell’s acute senses heard the younger warriors whispering about dull knives, and he saw them mimicking the flaying process with fiendish contortions of face and form.
But he did not communicate his observations to his fellow-prisoners; he would not horrify them with their doom. ”

“ Not far from the scenes of our romance the war of extirpation had raged with terrible fury. Those English families that failed to shelter themselves in Cahokia or Fort Chartres had either been butchered by the crimson devils or were fugitives with no spot whereon to lay their heads safe from the tomahawk of the avengers.
Upon the night described above an Indian was pushing his way through the forest, and following the course of the famous Cahokia Creek, not far from its boundaries. ”

“ The voice had betrayed the speaker—had declared him the Yellow Bloodhound!
For a moment the young scout did not move; but he was concentrating his strength for a spring.
He answered the creole’s whisper with an Ojibwa “here,” and, as the villain moved forward, he shot upward and struck him with all the strength he could summon.
So sudden and unexpected was the assault, that the knife dropped from Jules Bardue’s hand, and when he struck the earth he found the scout upon his breast, and saw his own glittering blade in dangerous proximity to his craven heart. ”

“ As the moments passed, the Indians grew impatient for the arrival of Segowatha’s Avengers. The captives had been taken from the trees that they might not afford marks for Coleola’s rifles, for the savages feared that the Snake Queen would steal back, and satiate her vengeance by dispatching the whites from the cliffs.
“All together once more,” said Doc Bell, despite the savage looks of their guards, “an’ I’m gettin’ anxious myself to see that ar’ Bloodhound.”
“We die when he comes!” said Somerville; “but we’ll die like men.” ”

“ The giant did not reply, but suddenly started forward. A moment later, however, he returned, leading a young girl by the hand.
“Look here, Oll,” he cried, addressing the wounded trader, “this is what I heard a moment ago. Look at her. Snakes and lizards! ain’t she a beauty! I wonder why she came here, who she is, an’ what she wants.”
“Ask her!” said Blount. “I have never seen her face before. She’s not a Peoria.”
“Nor a Kaskaskia or a Cahokia,” replied the hunter, looking into the black eyes of the Indian beauty, who stood before them as immobile as a statue. ”

“ She knew that whisky counteracted the effects of the poison of the rattlesnake in the human system, and she felt its effects ere the flask was drained.
“The Lone Dove of the pale-faces will not tread the dark wood,” said Nehonesto, noting with a smile the effect of the fire-water. “She will live—live to become Nehonesto’s captive.”
“No! no!” cried Coleola, at this, “the White Snake lives to die—to be skinned alive by the blunt knife of Coleola. She caught her in the Swamp Oak’s cave, but she fled like the hunted fox, while Coleola sought the red dog that stole her child many moons ago. ”

“ For a long time Jules Bardue signaled his braves, who he knew could not be far away; but no answering footsteps greeted their ears.
At length the distant crack of rifles was faintly heard, and they listened more intently than ever.
The conflict at the cave was raging furiously, and as the twain listened they heard the deathly sounds die away.
“Williamson, we must hasten yonder,” he cried. “Pick me up and run like lightning. If you do not obey, remember you’re a dead man.”
With an inward groan, the terror-stricken man lifted the renegade from the ground and started forward. ”

“ She saw that the Indians did not seek the lives of the trio, and the countenances of the whites told her that they were going to fight to the death—that they, seeing their cause hopeless, would force the red-skins to slay them for self-preservation.
And well, too, she knew that her presence would change the tide of affairs, and to preserve the life of her father—preserve it, perhaps, for a fate worse than death by the tomahawk, she slew Big Fox-Fire, and became the avengers’ prisoner. ”

“ But through the forests stalk the enemies of mankind, proving that “man is a human wolf.” The wily red-skin is abroad, either as Pontiac’s avenger, reddening his hatchet with the blood of his fellow-creature, or as the hunted Peoria, Kaskaskia or Cahokia, flying from the demons unchained by a barrel of English rum. ”

“ All at once, while the Indian still remained crouched on the floor, a hand struck the door, and in a firm tone Kate Blount demanded to know who was there.
“Segowatha, the war-wolf of the Pottawatomies, knocks at the pale-face’s lodge,” was the reply, in a pompous tone. “He is not alone; his warriors are about him, and through him they command the Englishman’s daughter to deliver over to them the Peoria dog, who kennels beneath her roof. We have tracked the Swamp Oak hither, and we seek the scalp of the Peoria dog, and not the Lone Dove’s. ”

“ Nehonesto! Nogawa came to meet the Yellow Bloodhound, and if he would find him, he must dive beneath the water and hunt among the fishes. Yes, the Yellow Bloodhound has stepped upon the trail of death; he scents blood no more in the woods of the Illinois. Nogawa knows where he hid the Lone Dove, and to the den he must lead Nehonesto and the Young Hunter. ”

“ Between Coleola and the Yellow Bloodhound flows the river of darkness, and some day or some night she meets him on the bank, and then the yelp of the dog will be heard for the last time. Coleola goes, but she will come again, and the plagues of the Manitou shall fall upon Odatha and his red snakes. The whites shall yet be Coleola’s; they shall not be skinned by the Yellow Bloodhound. Whoever slays one of Coleola’s braves shall fall before her, and the she White Snake shot Segagi! Odatha, forget nothing that has fallen from Coleola’s lips. Snakes, into the dark woods. ”

“ My legs are stiff, but once on shore, I can walk. Jules Bardue ain’t dead yet; no, and he’s not going to die while his enemies live. Be careful, Moccasin; don’t touch my hands; broken ramrods hurt like a wolf’s teeth.”
He paused, for the giant chief was lifting him from the boat, and, strain their eyes as much as they could, the watchers of the debarkation could not distinguish the forms of the voyagers.
However, their voices disclosed their positions, and as Big Moccasin laid his living burden on the ground, Swamp Oak sprung upon him. ”

“ The rim of the funnel was as large as that of a panama hat, and directly over it the renegade held his torch.
“Ha! ha!” he laughed, turning his hideous eyes upon the trio, who had pressed to the mouth of the cave and covered him with their rifles. “Shoot, if you dare! Though dead, I can blow you to atoms. I hold this torch over a lot of powder that communicates with a giant heap buried beneath us, and in a moment with Jules Bardue, the greatest devil that ever walked the earth, you’d be in eternity. ”